


Home Without Words

by SapphyreLily



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Ok well it ended up as low-key romance when I wanted full on angst, Pining, There is violence in this tho, There's some Frank/Julie and Frank/Joey but it's not a lot so I'm not tagging it, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 12:00:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19198363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: One hundred and sixty-seven words is not enough to get along by, let alone live on. But blessings come in many forms, even if you are sceptical of them at first.[Alternatively: How The Legion Came to Be, and How Susie Learns to be Brave]





	Home Without Words

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [The Quiet World](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49238/the-quiet-world) by Jeffery McDaniel.
> 
> This wasn't supposed to be so long! >A< Apologies to my friends who don't speak English as their first language, this is gonna take soooo long to read and I'm sorry.

**_i. Before Frank_ **

It was harder to do it in Ormond, to live by the government’s new stupid rule of _one hundred and sixty-seven_ words per day. Harder, because everyone knew each other, or thought they did. And with less expressed words, you couldn’t quite bring your feelings across as easily, couldn’t quite explain things as well with pen and paper.

It made for a living nightmare, but also a walking dream. Keeping your mouth shut, only nodding and saying things if you absolutely had to. Learning sign language for the times you didn’t want to write, or didn’t have writing implements on you.

It was Susie’s hell.

Nevermind that hell was supposed to be a burning fire pit; hell was the frozen wasteland of Ormond, never quite there, never quite enough.

Every day that she stayed, looking into the silent faces of her parents over dinner, the clinking of cutlery against plates drove her a little closer to the edge. A little closer to understanding why Julie wanted _out._

_“But where would you go? Surely the rest of the world is silent too.”_

Julie took the pencil from her, scrawling a reply on her book.

_“Does it matter? Anywhere. Far away from Ormond is all I want. It’s too small, and the quiet gets to you.”_

Susie felt like she understood that.

Julie tapped the pencil against her chin. Added a few words below her last sentence.

_“It’s like it’s creeping in on you, you know?”_

She did. Susie really did.

 

**_ii. Frank_ **

She heard it first in murmurs, which was shocking in itself. No one wasted words on murmurs, anymore.

But she also saw their hands, and in the flashes that she could catch, she worked out enough to pique her curiosity.

Julie would want to know.

\-----

Julie already knew.

She had a whole paragraph written out by the time Susie found her, and it took a while to read.

_“Mr Andrews got a foster son! Imagine that! Didn’t take him to be the fatherly sort. You think he’s in it just for the money?_

_“Do you think the boy’s our age? Maybe he’ll come to our school too! It’s boring as hell, hopefully some new blood will spice things up around here._

_“Should we go to the office and find out? Sneak over to his place after school?”_

Her hand was pushed off the page, and Julie wrote something else down.

_“Let’s skip out and go look for him.”_

The horror of being caught made Susie's breath catch, and it came out in an equally horrified, “Jules!”

Julie’s head shot up. Everyone else snapped around to look at them.

Susie’s face burned, and she pulled the neckline of her hoodie up, over her nose and mouth. She couldn’t look at any of them. She wanted to disappear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Julie lean back in her seat, casually resting her arm on the back of her chair. Saw her tip her chin upwards. Susie knew the look everyone else was now receiving; a cold, hard glare, one that dared them to keep looking, to keep staring.

Heads slowly swivelled back to the front of the room, and Julie turned that glare on her.

Appraising. Demanding. Bewildered.

Julie dropped her chin, lips pressed into a line, unimpressed eyes looking at her from beneath a raised eyebrow.

_Really, Sue?_

Susie’s hands dropped from where she was clutching her hoodie, twisting in her lap. _Sorry._

A hand covered hers; cold, as all hands were in Ormond, frozen by the persistent winter. She raised her eyes, but Julie’s gaze flicked to the book, her last sentence underlined twice.

Susie didn’t know how she found the courage, but she shook her head. Reached over and tapped a different sentence on the book. The second last one.

Julie huffed a sigh and pulled back, her chin dipping briefly. _Fine. After school, goody-two-shoes._

Susie’s hands felt even colder than before Julie touched her.

\-----

Clive Andrews lived in a small bungalow on the edge of Ormond, same as everyone else. Maybe just a little bit further out than the rest of them.

There was no car in the driveway when they snuck up to it, their own vehicle left somewhere down the road. Their footsteps were silent in the snow, and the house looked more and more ominous as they approached.

Susie wanted to turn back, but Julie was holding her hand in a vice grip, pulling her along to the windows at the side of the house. The weak sunlight barely illuminated the rooms they peeked into, and they saw nothing out of the ordinary. Plainly dressed rooms with boring furniture and drab coloured walls, not even a fire burning in the fireplace.

“Mr Andrews sure is boring.”

The spoken words made her heart jump – Susie had to convince herself it was the shock of hearing spoken words, not because Julie’s voice made her stomach flutter.

“Mm-hmm.”

They’d learnt long ago that affirmative humming didn’t count as words. Susie had plenty of words left, but it was habit, now.

Chilled fingertips dug into the back of her hand as Julie squeezed, tugging her along to the next window. They trekked around the house, peeking into every room they could see, but there was no sign of anyone home. Only the garden looked recently disturbed, the top layer of snow scraped off, an abandoned shovel next to it. Clearly, whoever had tried gardening found that the ground was too frozen for that.

Julie slipped her hand from Susie’s, pointing at the shovel. _That’s got to be the new guy. Everyone who grew up in Ormond knows better._

 _Or,_ Susie signed, _he’s just weak._

That earned her a short bark of laughter, and Susie smiled.

They continued round the house but found nothing of importance. Shivering and breaths fogging, they trudged away and back to Julie’s car.

A cold pinpoint kiss on her cheek made Susie glance up – it had started snowing again. That was good – it would cover their footprints before Mr Andrews came home, and no-one would be any the wiser of their trip.

Susie was quietly relieved that they didn’t find anything, but she wasn’t about to tell a grumbling Julie that.

\-----

Life went on in Ormond, though it now had bits of interesting news.

An obscene doodle on the bookshop’s wall. Little candy thefts from the grocers. The younger kids telling of someone big and scary who stole their corner booth at the family restaurant.

No one thought any of these petty crimes were anything important, not when there were better things to be doing. But it did spice up boring old Ormond, and Susie was happy to listen to people complain about something other than the cold or homework for once.

An arm sliding around her shoulders startled her from her thoughts. Susie glanced up at Julie, before her gaze slid back to her signing hands.

_Party on Friday night. Mum and Dad are going to the next town for some business thing._

Susie nodded. She never did anything at the parties, but as far as Julie was concerned, she was the fire extinguisher of the duo. She kept things under control if anything happened to go wrong. She was the straight-laced one, the quiet one who worked the shadows while Julie worked the spotlight.

It worked out well for both of them and made party cleanup so much easier.

Susie tapped Julie’s hand. _Who’s coming?_

_The same. Everyone’s invited, we’ll see who turns up._

_Will Joey be there?_

Julie rolled her eyes. _He brings the tunes, he has to come._

Susie grinned, but the smile wouldn’t fade though Julie tugged on her hair teasingly.

She wondered if Joey would bring her some new music like she’d asked.

\-----

Susie never liked the parties, but Julie always got the best sorts of drinks. Most people wanted the cocktail spiked with vodka or rum or whatever sort of alcohol she could sneak, but Susie thought the fresh fruit juice in her fridge was the best thing. She didn’t usually get juice at home, and nobody else at the parties wanted it, so there was more for her.

Well, _almost_ nobody else.

Her second favourite person in the world loved juice.

The music had started and was pounding through the house. It was only then that she gathered up enough courage to sneak out of Julie’s room. Pausing at the top of the stairs, she peeked down at the sea of bodies, groaning quietly.

**_Why are there always so many people at these things?_ **

The blasting music meant her second favourite person in the world had arrived, but she wanted some juice first. Susie pulled her hood up over her hair, tucking the strands inside. She snuck down the stairs, sidestepping some particularly messy dancers, and inched towards the kitchen, determined to get her sugar fix.

Before she could reach it, a voice called over the music, “Susie!”

She cringed and froze, rotating slowly on one foot to face the speaker. The rest of the room had already split in two to make a path for her, and a wave of the speaker’s hand sent them all back to their activities.

 _This_ was probably the biggest reason why Susie hated the spoken word limit. Every word you spoke drew attention to you, and if there was anything she hated, it was attention.

He knew this, and he still did it to her. Ugh. Why did she put up with him?

The person who had called her pulled something out of his pocket, waving it over his head. Susie’s eyes grew round, her annoyance forgotten. Her feet tapped frantically against the carpet as she sped down the cleared path, pushing others out of her way.

A laugh greeted her as she bounced up, trying to snatch the cassette tape from his hand. “What, no hellos?”

He must have saved a lot of words that day, if he was willing to spend them on her. “Hi Joey. That for me?”

She beamed up at him and he shook his head at her, an answering grin on his lips. He lowered the cassette to her, **SUZIE** spelled on it in bold marker. “Who else do I make mixtapes for?”

Susie grabbed it and stuffed it in her hoodie pocket, jumping up to hook her arms around his neck. “Thanks, Joe. Love you.”

Sturdy arms pulled her into an answering embrace. “Love you–” His words cut off with a choked breath, and Susie pulled back to see Joey’s face contorted.

She felt her expression fall. Pulled her hands free to sign, _You used your last words for me?_

His answering smile was weak. _I thought I had enough._

Susie punched his shoulder and dove in for another hug. She knew he could feel her fingernails digging into his back, her words clear. _You idiot._

She felt him turn, and something light touch her hair. She didn’t know her hood had fallen back.

_Only for you._

Hushed whispers spread quickly through the room, and they pulled apart, curious to see what it was that sparked the word flurry.

 _Who_ it was.

A tall, lanky figure stood in the doorway, face obscured by the shadow of their hood. Susie saw Julie break off from the group she was standing with and head towards them, and she made to follow.

A hand on her elbow held her back, Joey signing for her to approach slowly. She nodded, but her smaller stature made it easier to duck around people, and she reached Julie long before Joey did.

It was just as well, because Julie signed to her immediately. _How many words do you have left?_

Susie counted. _About a hundred and thirty?_

Julie nodded. _I’ve got enough to introduce myself, but you might have to translate for me._ She tilted her head towards the guy – he had removed his hood now – and said to him, “Welcome. I’m Julie.”

“Frank Morrison.” He nodded, eyes taking Julie in with a quick glance, before returning to linger on her face. His hands were still firmly entrenched in his pockets – strange behaviour, for a society that now depended on them to communicate. His voice was deep. Not as deep as Joey’s, but still pleasant to listen to. As his Adam's apple bobbed, Susie made out a shadow on his throat. A tattoo?

His eyes slid to Susie, then above her shoulder. She glanced up to where Joey had stopped behind her and was giving Frank the once-over, arms crossed over his chest.

“Susie. Joey.” She gestured at herself and Joey in turn, and at Julie’s signing, added, “Haven’t seen you around before.”

She didn’t voice what they were all thinking. **_There aren’t any Morrisons in Ormond. There weren’t any, before you._**

Frank’s lips turned up at the corner, his eyes still on Joey. “Clive’s my new dad.”

Susie saw Julie’s eyes sparkle, and a knot of dread sat heavy in her stomach as realisation crept in. She knew that look. She didn’t like where this was bound to go. But Julie was gesturing to the kitchen, so she said, “Would you like a drink?”

His eyes slid back to hers, then to a smiling Julie, a hint of surprise in them. “I would.”

Julie beckoned to him, and he took his hands out of his pockets, trailing after her. Joey put a hand on Susie's shoulder before signing, _He seems like a badass. And cool._

 _You sure?_ Her hands twisted together after the sign. _I’m worried._

 _You always worry._ He put his hands on her back and pushed her towards the kitchen, where there were drinks and snacks and a giant whiteboard to write on.

Julie had already started on the whiteboard when they entered, making her apologies for running out of words. Frank was nodding along as he sipped a glass of the cocktail, occasionally putting it down to make clumsy signs.

Julie caught Susie’s eye as she was pouring herself a drink. She sighed and put her glass down, where it was immediately snatched up by Joey. She shot him a glare, but all he did was lift the glass to toast her, and she rolled her eyes. Keeping her back to him, Susie grabbed herself another glass as she addressed Frank. “Can you sign? Or read them?”

Frank turned to her, surprised again. “Some. Didn’t bother to learn.”

Susie read Julie’s hands, translating, “We can teach you. Much easier than writing when you run out.”

She watched as Julie turned a lazy, suggestive smile on Frank, and her stomach flopped nervously. She _really_ didn’t like where this was going.

“Sure.” Frank took a deep draw from his glass. “But not tonight. Aren’t we gonna have some fun?”

\-----

Frank, as it turned out, was very good at basketball. And knife tricks. And doing dangerous, stupid things.

He was older than them, been kicked out of many schools, many homes. But he was tough and confident and indomitable. Completely unafraid and dashingly handsome. A badass, as Joey has so succinctly put it.

Julie was enraptured. Joey worshipped the ground he walked on. Susie was terrified.

But where Julie went, she also went, because this was definitely a fire waiting to happen, and she was their fire extinguisher.

~~And because she had loved Julie for as long as she could remember. She had to be there for her, no matter where she went. No matter what she did.~~

It took a while, but Frank had come to accept that Julie and Susie were a package deal. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to steal Julie away whenever he could. Where he couldn’t steal her away, Julie convinced Susie to let them go, with whispered promises and fluttery breaths against her skin.

~~How could Susie say no? She’d watched Julie’s back for years, and she knew she always would. All that she had, she’d give for Julie.~~

~~Julie knew that, and wasn’t afraid to exploit it, sometimes.~~

Susie wasn’t as slim and tall as Julie was, but all her parents needed was an assurance that there was a female silhouette sleeping in her bed. Susie spent too many nights in Julie’s bed and not her own, but her parents didn’t care. They didn’t mind turning their daughter over to the richer set of parents. They didn’t care about the exorbitant amount of ‘sleepovers’ the girls seemed to have, despite the fact that they were much too old for sleepovers.

Susie wanted to complain, and she did grumble to Joey about it. The other boy had laughed at her and expressed his wish to be part of their adventures. Frank and Julie had all the fun, and they weren’t afraid to brag about it.

Susie didn’t want their sort of fun. Julie had been sent to detention too many times because she’d been caught skipping class to hang out with Frank. They’d nearly suspended her a few times, but Ormond was small, and Julie’s parents were rich. So they kept dodging the line, toeing way too close to it, while Susie lay in Julie’s bed and fretted.

~~Not that she was complaining too much about that. She got to wear Julie’s pretty nightdresses and breathe in the scent of her. She got to lie in her warm, comfortable bed, surrounded by Julie’s scent, and imagine that Julie would kiss her.~~

~~Kiss her with the sort of passion she used to kiss Frank, not the sort of kisses they shared because they were ‘practicing’.~~

~~Her only consolation was that Julie came back at the end of the night, chilling her with wind-frozen fingers. Her reward was the reassurance that she was safe, as Julie laid her head on Susie’s chest to sleep.~~

~~Sometimes, Julie brought her gifts. Tiny shiny things that she had acquired when she was with Frank, tiny things with price tags that even someone with Julie’s allowance would balk at. Susie suspected she knew where they came from, and hid them carefully in her treasure chest, ignoring the implications for the businesses that had lost them. At least Julie had thought of her, remembered her enough to bring her something.~~

~~Susie appreciated the thought, she really did.~~

Susie didn’t know if it was Julie or Joey, but one of them convinced Frank that they should be allowed to come along on their gallivanting.

The first time they went out, Susie was afraid. So afraid, that she refused to set foot in the store they were raiding and insisted on playing watchdog. Joey had shaken his head at her and ducked into the store. Julie shrugged and left – she knew Susie too well, and forcing her would just cause a scene.

But Frank had tilted his head and looked at her with surprise and curiosity. He seemed to do that a lot. Looking at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. Seeing that she could do something for him.

Then he had nodded. Told her to whistle if someone was coming, right before ducking into the store. Susie never got to tell him that she didn’t know how to whistle.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to whistle that night. Or the next night. Or the one after that.

She got used to watching the darkness, tuning her ears to footsteps that didn’t belong to the other three. When she needed to signal them, she snapped her fingers. Tapped her foot. Clicked her tongue, if it really came down to it.

Joey teased that she was treating them like animals, calling them with clicks and snaps. But she couldn’t whistle, and it was the closest thing she got to a quiet alarm.

Frank didn’t mind. He loved her watchful eyes and sharp ears, and the smooth honey of his voice always showered her with praise. She shouldn’t listen. She couldn’t. But he was charming and confident and brave, and she wanted to be like that too.

~~She wanted Julie to look at her the same way that she looked at him.~~

~~Like he was the sun, and she was a flower opening its petals to greet him.~~

It was several months after their first meeting, and Frank had started getting better at the signs. Susie no longer had to translate his poor signs for others, or spend her extra words explaining signs to him. Not that he didn’t try, sometimes, to convince her to be his mouthpiece. He swore too often. It was funny, how one hundred and sixty-seven words disappeared when you let out a cuss word or two every few minutes.

It was interesting that he’d noticed that she always had the most words left, of anyone in their group. Joey used his words up quickly, but he worked in a shop. When customers refuse to look at you, you have no choice but to address them verbally. Julie didn’t usually have many left, but she spent her words keeping the remnants of her popular clique in line. Or explaining her every movement to her parents. Or, Susie suspected, talking to Frank.

Susie was small and invisible and had no one but the three of them to speak to. She was good at signing, and that only saved her more words.

~~No one had to know that she was really saving her words for Julie. For a day when she would be brave enough to whisper to her all the things that she loved about her. The word allowance didn’t carry over into a new day, but as long as Susie kept enough of them, she’d be able to work through her list eventually. That was the plan, at least.~~

Frank couldn’t know what her plans were – surely she wasn’t that obvious – but it was still interesting that he was beginning to see her. See her as more than just Julie’s shadow, her tag-along, her source of extra words. There were a total of two people in Ormond who saw her as her own person, and Susie was pleasantly surprised that she was able to add one more person to that list.

~~Perhaps the newcomer to their little town wasn’t a bad thing, after all.~~

They spent more and more time with each other as a group. Doing the worst things – illegal, law breaking things – but also the best things. The small things. The normal, day to day teenage things. Playing cards, watching snatches of television when there was enough service. Sneaking into the movies when there was something good playing. Attempting and failing to do their homework, and copying Susie’s afterwards. Playing pranks on each other, because what sort of friends were they, if they didn’t make each others’ lives awful?

It was terrible, really, but Susie felt more and more at home with them. She’d never had many friends before, and somehow, a fourth made them a group of friends. Before Frank, the three of them had never felt quite right together, not when Joey was busy working and Julie had the other kids at school dogging her heels. Even when it was just Julie and herself, all they did was talk. They didn’t do anything exciting, ever.

~~Her parents never let her hang out with Joey. He wasn’t allowed to come over, and she wasn’t allowed to see him, because they thought the colour of his skin would rub off on her. The only times they could meet was at the library, because the librarians didn’t care who read the books, only that you returned them after you were done.~~

~~It was a wonder they stayed friends, when they saw so little of each other. But it was the way they had to work, and they were always comfortable around each other, no matter the amount of time they spent apart.~~

Frank was the glue that brought them together. Held them together. He turned their mundane lives into something _more._ More than just quiet teenagers left on a shelf to collect dust and rot. More than the silence and cold that defined everyone in Ormond.

It was novel and different and exciting. Susie could appreciate why Julie was drawn to Frank and his outrageous actions. Even if Frank’s mad ideas tended to make Susie very afraid of the law.

One night when Julie’s parents were away and they were sitting around her fireplace, Frank suggested making masks, especially for when they went out on dares. _Much easier to stay blank,_ he said.

 _Anonymous?_ Joey had suggested. It was a running joke that Frank was awful at signs.

 _Too complicated a sign,_ Frank replied. He flipped Joey the bird anyway, to let him know he knew exactly what he was implying. Susie pinned Joey’s hands before he could say something ruder back.

But anonymous it was, though it was also to make themselves look bigger and scarier. What was the point of dares – especially intimidation dares – if you couldn’t intimidate anyone?

It took them a while to make their masks, and it was to be a surprise.

~~Not that it really was a surprise, when you were Susie. People just told her things.~~

Julie copied Frank’s initial mask idea, planning on making a massive grinning mask, for smiling in the face of adversity. She scrapped it later, going for something that resonated more with her instead. A mask with its mouth crossed out. Zipped up. It depended on how you wanted to see it.

~~Susie saw what she was doing. A silent mask, for the girl inside. The girl inside who was silenced, because children were meant to be seen, not heard. Because girls were pretty centrepieces, but that’s all they were. Ornamentation.~~

~~Now the silenced would be the silencer. Susie couldn’t deny Julie that liberation. She rather admired her for it.~~

Joey wanted to be the face of death. He combined a half mask of a broken skull with a black bandana, the latter tied around his neck. It looked kind of strange to have a mask extending down like that, but Susie could understand why he made it that way.

~~The bandana covered his neck and jaw, and the mask covered his face. Added to the gloves and full-length clothing, he’d be completely anonymous when he wore it, his distinctive profile hidden behind folds of fabric. He would just be another teenager causing trouble, rather than a black teenager causing trouble. It was safer for him, especially when people in Ormond were still racist and believed blacks should be their slaves.~~

~~Joey was so much better of a person than the rest of them. _They_ should be his slaves, Susie thought.~~

Hearing about their masks, Susie began to come up with her own ideas. She wanted to craft something that was uniquely her, that conveyed the essence of who she was.

She made a cracked mask, for her cracking façade. For the shell of who others thought she was, and the braver, bolder form of herself peeking from behind the cracks. The mask was held together by her old braces, a reminder of many things. One – the person she was before she had gotten them, someone whom others bullied because her teeth weren’t straight. Two – an old life of hiding, a life of walking around in shame. It all seemed like fog, to her. It felt like so long ago, when she’d spent all her time hiding behind Julie. It felt like so long ago, when she used to lie in Julie’s bed and pretend to be her while Julie was out with Frank. Now it was the four of them, and she couldn’t help but admit it to herself – she liked it. She really liked it, that feeling of belonging.

The mask reveal went better than Susie expected – given that hers was the only one that had been a secret. Everyone else didn’t know how to keep their mouths shut around her.

Julie thought hers looked cool, though Joey teased her for being edgy. That was his job, he said. Susie had jabbed him in the side.

But Frank looked at it and nodded, his crooked grin holding approval. _Not even a face for people to look at and relate to. Blankness is intimidating, isn’t it?_

Susie hadn’t even thought about it that way, but it sounded good.

~~It felt good, to have Frank’s approval.~~

When they put on their masks for the first time, sitting in the pale light of the fire in the abandoned lodge on Mount Ormond that they’d claimed as their own, they weren’t just Frank, Julie, Susie and Joey.

They were more. They were a group tested in scores of intimidation dares, the quick work of spray paint and light fingers. They were the phantoms that stalked the night, that did whatever they wanted, uninhibited and free.

They were anonymous, unafraid and strong.

They were the Legion.

 

**_iii. The Legion_ **

Susie never stopped being afraid, but she didn’t deny that it was liberating to put on her mask and not be her boring self, if only for a few hours.

They were quick and efficient. Few ever caught them. It was refreshing to let loose, to pour out the rage and suppressed emotion she’d squashed into a corner of her mind.

They should not have needed them, but Frank insisted they have weapons. _For protection against the wild animals up by the lodge,_ he insisted. _Better safe than sorry._

 _You just want to scare people more easily,_ she signed, but Frank turned away, as if he didn’t see.

That response nagged at her, and a large part of her didn’t quite believe him. So she didn’t get a knife like the others. Frank told her he could get her a generic knife, but he had gotten himself and Julie a pair of pretty custom-made ones, and Joey had gotten some fancy knife himself – a karambit?

Susie liked being anonymous, but not like that. She didn’t want to be generic. She wanted her own identity, but she also didn’t want something that would hurt people too badly. She truly didn’t believe the knives were just for 'protection against the wildlife'.

So she took a broken wooden ruler and taped some compass needles she found to it. Her teachers said math couldn’t kill anyone. Now, it might. Or at the very least, it’d scare someone off.

Julie had laughed at her makeshift knife, but agreed that it was fitting. Susie wasn’t bold like them. She’d never carry a real knife.

Susie had laughed with her, but her chest hurt, as if Julie had stabbed her with her nice, new hunting knife. She could be brave. She wanted to prove she could be brave. She just didn’t believe Frank on this. This was her way of being brave, but also cautious. It was a step out from the shadows that she usually hid in. Surely Julie could see that. They’d known each other for years.

Joey only partially understood.

“She’s not wrong, Sue.” Joey’s words were soft, hidden by the crackling of the fire and the scraping of metal against wood. “You’re softer than the rest of us. ‘S not a bad thing.”

Susie hugged her knees closer to her chest, tucking her chin in. “I don’t wanna be soft. ‘M just being careful.”

“Careful’s fine. But soft isn’t weak.” He lowered what he was crafting and looked at her. “Soft is a mask. It’s your disguise.”

She thought about that. About fooling others into thinking she was weak and vulnerable, and striking them when they expected it the least. They'd be so blinded by her façade, they’d never see it coming. It was a satisfying thought.

It was a crazy thought. Where had it come from?

She didn’t _want_ to attack people. She was trying to be cautious.

The scraping sounds stopped. There were several puffs as Joey blew the dust off, and held it out to her, handle first. “You know,” he said thoughtfully, “Jules is wrong about one thing.”

Susie raised her eyebrows in question. She still felt too weak to make a sound, and she didn’t want to sign.

He nodded towards what he was holding out – her makeshift knife. “It’s a real blade. You’ll do some nasty damage with that.”

She reached out, took the blade. Her fingernails slotted into the grooves that Joey had dug out of the wood, each etching spelling out a word.

A movement caught her eye. She looked up and Joey began signing.

_Any cut made with that knife isn’t going to be clean. It’ll scratch and bite and tear. It’s like a wild animal, ripping a bite out of you._

Susie felt a weak smile lift her lips. She opened her hand and looked at her weapon, at the fresh wood shavings clinging to her fingernails. At the dull and sharp compass needles sticking out at angles. At the serrated, splintered edge of the ruler. At the thick roll of duct tape that held it all together.

**SUZZIE :)**

The freshly carved name grinned at her, and it looked right, sitting on the handle. The smiley looked dangerous – unassuming but sarcastic, and it promised pain to any who crossed her.

She had wanted a harmless blade, because she didn’t want to hurt people. But Joey was right; what she had made was bound to leave a nasty scar, instead of the clean wound a regular knife would deliver. Maybe it wouldn’t cut as deep – rulers aren’t the strongest, after all – but it would still hurt to be hit by it.

She had made it. It was her blade, and she would own it and the consequences that came with it.

She would be the wild animal that stalked people. She could claim that identity. She could be brave.

Susie slid over, wrapping an arm around Joey’s back, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Thanks, Joe.”

An arm slid over her shoulders, tucking her against him. The familiar weight of his head rested against hers – reassuring, affirming.

“Always.”

\-----

Susie wasn’t the fondest of her job of watchdog, now that she too felt the thrill of the illegal activities. Of the quiet satisfaction when she watched the fallout, the discovery of what they had done. The others always got all the fun, with the theft and vandalism. She still didn’t like the bullying that much; it reminded her too much of what she had gone through before she’d met Julie.

But they were nice about it. Joey always swapped places with her, saving her the finishing flourish of their hastily painted murals. Frank always let her pick some candy or extra snack to steal.

Julie still held her hand, and told her she was strong when she was terrified.

~~Sometimes she kissed Susie and told her she was brave and bold and getting better all the time.~~

~~Susie wasn’t sure what those kisses meant, not when they didn’t have to practice, not anymore.~~

~~She should have gotten used to the mini heart attacks by now, but she didn’t think she ever would. She loved Julie so much that it hurt.~~

~~She wished she could kiss Julie forever.~~

It was madness. It was fun and awful and made her blood pound faster than one of her favourite songs. This, Susie thought, was what _belonging_ felt like.

They were the Legion. They were _her_ Legion, and she would do anything for them.

Which was why, she thought, she was stuck in this situation now. Perched on Joey’s shoulders, his hands clamping around her calves. White paint coating her fingers and splattered in her hair, throwing out lines on the mural they’d been asked to do.

A few strokes here, another few there, all while trying to keep her balance. It was a bit too late to wish they’d hauled a ladder up to the lodge – she’d have to make do with the Joey-stepladder, and hope she wasn’t too heavy.

Susie put her closed fist on the wall and leaned back, looking over her brushstrokes. It looked alright. Not her best work, but it was as close as it got to the sketch.

Susie tapped Joey’s hand, pointing down when he turned slightly to look. Gently, slowly, he lowered her to the ground, and she stumbled off, flattening herself against the wall, arms spread out like eagle wings. She heard a snort behind her, and half-turned to grin at him. Joey shook his head at her and walked away, rolling his shoulders and stretching out the chinks in his neck.

Susie stuck her tongue out at his back before bending to pick up the sketch. The top half of it was completed – thanks to Joey’s assistance – and now she had to work on the bottom half. Glancing up at the wall, she pictured it in her mind, then smiled and dipped her brush in the paint.

Joey might not get too long a break, after all. She’d need him back to finalise the details.

\-----

Frank was delighted with the mural. He actually picked her up and spun her around, and spared a few words to tell her that it looked better than the artist sketch he’d gotten. “Have I ever told you that you’re brilliant, Sue?”

Susie grinned when he put her down, lifting a hand and tilting it from side to side. _Sometimes._

Behind him, Julie leaned against a stack of boxes, a smug grin on her face. “Didn’t believe me then, did you, Morrison?”

Frank flipped her the bird without turning around. It only made Julie’s grin deeper.

Susie caught her eye and threw her arms out towards the mural with a flourish. _How is it?_

“Spectacular.” Julie’s head tilted to the side as she looked at the mural again, a gentle smile pulling her lips up. “You’re so talented.”

Susie’s heart felt like it was glowing with all the praise. _Spoken_ praise was always so much better than just signed or written praise.

 _~~Julie’s~~ _ ~~praise made her heart sing extra loudly.~~

“Really solidifies this place as our base.” Joey was looking at the mural, arms tucked into his armpits. He glanced down at Susie, a grin splitting his face. “Gotta do something to celebrate.”

 _Harass the cinema for popcorn?_ Susie signed.

Frank laughed, the sound startling her. When she met his eyes, they were alight with a maniac fire.

 _Yes, let’s do that._ His grin was sharp, approving, his signs eager. _Good idea._

She’d been joking, but it didn’t matter. Together, the four of them could do whatever they wanted. They were invincible.

They filed out of the lodge, and Susie spared a glance back at the mural on the second floor. The white paint shone against the dark wall, sharply cut letters reminding everyone of who they were.

_The Legion._

 

**_iv. Slipping up_ **

It was an accident. It had been an accident. She didn’t expect it to be a fatal one.

She was watching the front door, because that’s where people usually walked past. That’s where they had come in.

Joey usually scoped out the back, but he had been too full of rage and indignation. He’d forgotten to check.

Susie had just caught Julie’s signal that she was going to check the back and nodded back. Then she was gone.

And discovered.

Her cry had stabbed Susie, a sharp bolt of terror lancing through her being.

Susie hadn’t thought. She left her post and sprinted towards the sound, crouching in the shadows to peer around the corner.

Julie’s hand was tugging at the hand over her mouth, the other trying to push off the arm around her middle. Her cries were muffled now, desperate and panicked. There was a skittering sound as her foot connected with something, and Susie vaguely recognised the oblong white shape as Julie’s mask. It must have been knocked off when the person grabbed her.

A similar scene flashed into Susie’s mind: hiding under the bed, hands over her mouth. Julie being picked up by her father in the same way, hand over mouth and arm over middle to stifle her cries and struggling. A _thump_ as the bodies hit the bed above her, the heavy bulk of her father pinning her thrashing legs.

“You better keep your mouth shut.” The harsh whisper came from above, a guttural growl that made Susie tremble. “You tell anyone what you saw, and I’ll kill ya, you hear?”

Susie couldn’t know what Julie said back. All she heard was whimpering. Whether it was hers or Julie’s, she didn’t know.

The sharp _slap_ reverberated through the room, and the mattress springs creaked as Julie’s father got off the bed. Then a _thump_ and _crack_ so loud, Susie thought she saw the bedframe shudder. Finally, the sound of footsteps shuffling off the carpet. The door slammed.

Susie didn’t realise she couldn’t see because there were tears blocking her vision.

She crawled out from under the bed, pulling herself up to look at Julie. Her friend had her blanket stuffed in her mouth, fists clutching big handfuls of the material.

The moonlight was dim, but Susie could still see the shine of dark liquid on Julie’s forehead.

It was happening again. Susie was frozen in place, like all those years ago. Fingers curled into fists, every muscle locked. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move–

Julie’s assailant cried out, and she stumbled forward. Her chest was heaving, hands covering her mouth. Susie knew there were tears streaking her cheeks even before she caught her and her hands cupped Julie’s face.

Familiar hands slid around her waist, Julie’s head dropping onto her shoulder as Susie held her close. One hand on Julie’s back, one tangled in her shorn hair. Feeling the wetness on her neck, the strangling vice of arms crushing her torso. Her head resting against Julie’s, until she realised her mask was digging into her. Susie tore it off, pushing her hood back.

And saw what Frank had done.

It was the cleaner, she realised. The cleaner at the store – this store, where Joey had worked at, up until that day. He was a calm man who was friendly to her and gave her gum when she couldn’t afford new music.

It was the cleaner who had grabbed Julie. Who had been trying to stop thieves or vandals. Who had gotten them instead.

Who had gotten Frank’s knife in his back.

_(They were the Legion. They never failed.)_

“Finish it.” Frank stared down at them, glancing at the man on his knees, groaning.

It was serious. Frank was being _serious_. He wouldn’t speak if he didn’t truly mean it.

~~For the limit that was one hundred and sixty-seven, it was surprising how many words they saved for each other. How many words they sequestered and hid and shared together. But the words she just heard weren’t for jokes and laughter. These words didn’t imply harmless fun.~~

Susie couldn’t do it. She _wouldn’t._ But– But–

She saw him move first. The pooling shadow at her shoulder. Joey. Her Joey, who had worked at this store, who knew this man, who was the worst at the dares because he knew what it was like to be oppressed. Joey. _Joey–_

He took the knife from Frank’s hand, punched it into the cleaner’s side. The man cried out as the blade slid in and out of his body, but Joey’s face was turned away. Susie could see the line of his jaw; he, too, had taken off his mask, and his jaw was tight, tighter than he’d ever clenched it. Tighter than she’d ever seen it clenched, even when the terrible bullies in their town had been punching and kicking him for being black.

~~Susie knew that first-hand, because she had been there. She had pushed the boys throwing the punches aside, flung herself on top of Joey to protect him.~~

~~It worked. They got in trouble for kicking her, because some of them hadn’t stopped in time, hadn’t seen her appear.~~

~~Joey’s jaw was swollen then, and he had clenched it against the ice that his mother held to his face. Clenched against the pain, of what was hopefully not a broken jaw. They wouldn’t get the treatment for it, if it was.~~

Joey. She couldn’t believe it. Joey had listened to Frank. Susie listened too, but not now, not when they were hurting someone purposefully to the point of _death_.

They shouldn’t be hurting people at all.

Susie couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t do what Frank asked of her, not this time–

She stared at the knife Joey held out to her. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Damn it, Sue, do it!”

Frank’s words shocked her; her fingernails dug in, and Julie winced. Susie loosened her grip in apology, but Julie had already pushed out of her arms and taken the blade. She knelt in front of the man, both hands grasping the blade, and slid it into his heart.

Susie felt the floor under her hands. No. No. Not Julie too–

She was hauled up, Julie’s fingers wrapping hers around the slick handle. She caught a glimpse of her face; contorted with the grimace that came with holding her tears back, the dark streaks on her cheeks showing where she had tried to wipe the tear tracks away. Frank loomed over her, his hand wrapping around her trembling ones, steadying her.

Steadying. Her.

His other hand was on her back, pushing her whole body forward, until the knife pierced the man’s throat.

She hoped the cleaner saw her apology on her lips. She was so sorry.

She was horrified. It had been so easy. The tiniest bit of resistance, the faint pressure. Then Frank pushed, and the knife slid in like she was cutting warm butter. Except butter didn’t splatter onto her hands, didn’t gurgle like the dregs of bathwater in the drain. Didn’t fold forward and pour out onto her hands – hot and wet and saturated with guilt.

Frank pulled her back, pinched the knife from her limp hands and wiped the blade on his jacket. “Clean up. Fast. Joe and I will take the body out.”

“Where?” Susie’s voice was a whisper. A hoarse, hoarse whisper.

“Mount Ormond.” They all looked at Julie, her face clean of tears now, though blood streaked her face. “No one ever looks there.”

Frank nodded. Gestured to Joey. They picked the body up by the arms and legs and dragged it away, while Julie helped Susie up.

Susie couldn’t say anything. Everything was foggy, and there were blanks in her memory. She looked at the mop. Julie had given it to her. She saw her friend hauling a bucket of water towards her, and something clicked in her mind. She began to scrub at the drying blood on the floor. Slowly. Then faster. Faster. She scrubbed the floor vigorously until it was clean. It terrified her that she knew well how to clean up bloodstains.

“Sure reminds you of my dad, doesn’t it?” Julie’s low chuckle reached her ears. Susie walked over to dunk her mop in the bucket, not saying anything. But her stiff, bloodied fingers trembled on the handle, and she knew Julie could see that.

A bandaged-wrapped hand covered hers. Hid the blood, however momentarily. She looked up; Julie’s mouth was set, her eyes downturned at the corners. “We’ll get away, Sue. We always do.”

Susie opened her hand under Julie’s. Their fingers laced together, squeezing briefly. There was a slam from outside; Joey’s trunk. They looked at each other, fingers releasing, pulling apart quickly.

~~Too quickly. It was a terrible thing, but Susie wanted to keep holding Julie’s hand, even in that situation.~~

They picked up the mop and bucket and ducked into the bathroom. Threw out the dark water, rinsed the cleaning implements. Susie washed her hands, but she couldn’t get the feeling of blood off her. She scrubbed viciously, nails tearing at her hands. Julie had to take her by the elbows and pull her back, tell her it was time to go.

~~She had to get the blood off her hands, out from under her nails. She didn’t want to remember it.~~

~~It was warm, like the comforting heat of hot water over cold hands. It was hot, but it wasn’t water. A part of her had liked it.~~

~~She didn’t want to like it. It was murder.~~

Julie stopped her on their way out, piling their discarded masks in her arms. They couldn’t leave any more of themselves behind. Susie wished she had been the one to remember, but she had been too distracted, too preoccupied.

They got into the car, and she caught a glimpse of herself in the rear-view mirror. Susie’s expression hadn’t changed from when she looked into the bathroom mirror earlier; she didn’t think it would. She remembered what Julie said to her, and how she couldn’t find the signs or words to respond.

She hoped Julie read her face and meaning, because she was too afraid to say it out loud. Too afraid to respond to her.

_Will we really get away, this time?_

 

  _ **v. The**_ ** _Fog_**

The drive up to Mount Ormond was too quiet, broken only by the crunch of wheels on the icy ground. Susie thought she was too scared, but the slowing of the vehicle stirred her back to awareness, and she realised, **_Oh. I fell asleep._**

Then, **_I was tired enough to_ fall asleep.**

Perhaps murder wasn’t too awful on the conscience after all, if she managed to rest after it.

Beside her, Julie lifted her head, pushing back her hood and rubbing the heels of her hands over her eyes. Her hair was sticking up in all directions, and Susie wanted to smooth it down.

It really wasn’t the time for such thoughts.

They got out of the car, Frank and Joey taking the body while the girls took the shovels. There was a patch of earth not far from the lodge, a place that was once a garden bed. Frank ordered them to start digging there, so they did. It was hard work, even for those of them who knew best how to break up the muddy ice and snow.

Susie wasn’t sure what it was, but Frank stopped all of a sudden, hand going to his knife. He glanced back at them and signed, _Saw something. Be right back._ Then he took off into the darkness.

The rest of them kept digging. Frank knew how to take care of himself. Didn’t he prove that, just a few hours earlier?

Susie was hot, but her hands were frozen by the time they finished digging. Frank hadn’t come back yet. Together, the three of them hauled the body over and dumped it into the shallow grave, scraping the icy soil back on top.

They looked around. Still no Frank. Susie began to feel a thread of terror for him – they all knew how vicious the wildlife could be, how silent and efficient. By the way Julie was wringing her hands, she was nervous too.

They shone their torches in the snow, looking for footprints. Julie found them first, whistling sharply to call them over. Together, they followed Frank’s muddy prints into the forest, but their torches seemed to grow weaker with every step, the lights barely piercing the fog.

With frustrated sighs, they cast the torches aside – what a time for the batteries to die! – and followed the trail they had found. They huddled together as the cold crept through their jackets, linking arms as their feet clomped along. The path grew darker, the faint moonlight more eerie. The fog seemed to thicken around them, and Susie didn’t dare to look into it for too long. But still they walked, drawn forward by some unknown pull. Perhaps they were just too afraid to turn back.

Susie didn’t know how long they walked for, but the fog got less dense, the light brighter. It seemed like they were following footprints again, and Julie tugged on her arm excitedly to point them out.

Then they were crunching on snow, and the lodge of Mount Ormond was just ahead. But it was bright, as if it was day – surely they hadn’t been walking in circles the whole night? It certainly didn’t feel like they’d walked the night away.

A figure came around the side of the lodge. A familiar figure. Julie’s grip on her arm loosed completely, and she broke into a dead sprint, launching herself at what was undoubtedly Frank.

Susie couldn’t believe her eyes, but she was also frozen stiff, and she knew the lodge had a fireplace. She just wanted to be warm. Joey tugged her along, and she stumbled after him, her knees nearly giving way. Perhaps they _had_ walked the whole night, after all.

Frank released Julie as he saw them approach, sheathing his knife to sign. _I followed the trail, and here we are. It’s not our lodge._

Three incredulous stares met his statement, and he beckoned them to follow, walking backwards so he could keep signing. _I checked it out. It’s similar to ours, but there are some minor differences. It’s like Spot The Difference. The changes are pretty subtle._

 _How can you tell?_ Julie asked this.

Frank nodded towards a man-sized red cupboard next to them. _Things like that. Don’t know what they’re for, but you could probably hide a person in there._

The inside of the lodge looked familiar, but also…wrong. Off. There were things about it that weren’t quite the same. Susie couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Frank waved under her nose, raising his eyebrows when she looked at him. _See? It’s different._

She nodded. It was.

There were two claps from the other side of the room – where the registration counter was. Joey waved them over, putting four familiar looking things on the countertop. He raised an eyebrow. _What are these doing here?_

Their masks. Hadn’t they left them in the car?

Susie reached out to hers, tracing the metal studs. It looked different, too. Older. More weathered. Dirt streaks and odd, rusty brown. She couldn’t quite make out what it was.

Everyone else had taken their masks, pushing back their hoods to put them on. Watching them, Susie felt an odd need to do the same.

She had barely adjusted it so she could see when she felt it. A tug at her brain, a coaxing in her heart. She felt compelled to step outside.

Frank was doing just that, his knife sliding free from its scabbard. Julie followed behind him, fingers flexing on the grip of hers. Susie reached into her hoodie pocket for her blade, the sharp edges of the handle comforting in her hand. Behind her, she knew Joey was doing the same, spinning his karambit on its finger ring.

They followed Frank, tugged along like puppets on a string. Moving of their free will, yet not. Heavily compelled, but still aware of their actions. They spread out in a semicircle around what appeared to be a meat hook, its blade shining darkly with old, crusted blood.

Surprisingly, the sight didn’t make Susie feel like puking.

Black tendrils burst forth from the top of the hook, dark reaching tips curling in on themselves like a deranged hand. Susie watched with detached curiosity. There was nothing to be afraid of. She knew this thing, even though she didn’t.

She was quietly pleased that she was not afraid.

**“You are the Legion. And now you are mine. Serve me willingly, and you will not be punished.”**

Susie’s fingers clenched around her weapon, dark ambition flaring in her chest. Yes… She would serve. She would do anything for this being.

She saw Frank step forward, sheath his blade. Saw him sign. _How to serve?_

**“Speak freely. I am not like your foolish mortal leaders. You will need not words to serve me, but your speech will not be impeded whilst you are amongst yourselves.”**

“How?” Frank's voice was harsh, like one whose vocal chords were severely underused. They were. None of them had spoken freely in a long time. “How do we serve?”

It felt to Susie that Frank, the strongest willed of them, had the compulsion as well.

**“I will call you into trials. Hunt down the flies that seek the light. Present them to me on these hooks. Bring them all to me willingly, and you will have free reign.”**

“What if we don’t want to?” Frank was bold, to say such a thing.

There was a chittering as the tendrils – claws – clicked together. Susie thought it was their form of laughter. **“You will want to. Do you not feel the thrumming in your blade, that sings for blood to feed it?”**

Susie looked at her weapon. It looked sharper now, the splintered edges sturdy, the compass needles blunt and rusty. She smiled. It would do great damage.

**“Feed me first, and I will give you gifts. You will be stronger and faster. You will be the hunters and never the prey. You will take from those who ought to bow to you. Serve me first, and I will gift you your own kills.”**

That shocked Susie back to herself. She wasn’t sure she wanted to kill. Her knife looked ugly, now; a terrible weapon for pain and hurt, to draw out others' misery. She wasn’t sure she could do it.

**“Did I say to doubt? Your first calling is to feed me. You are responsible for none of the kills yourself. Not until I grant you the right.”**

Susie’s fingers relaxed. That was right. She didn’t have to kill them herself. This entity would do it. She was only the messenger.

Something pulled her hood back, tapped the edge of her mask. She looked up and saw a tendril pointing at her, and it reached under her chin to tilt her head back.

Odd, how human and caring the action felt.

**“Feed me first. You will get all the time you want. All the words you want. Pursue the desires of your heart, but only second to when I call you.”**

Susie would have nodded, if she didn’t think she might cut herself on that sharp tip.

She knew what it was offering. Time. Words. An eternity with her friends, her Legion. Her Julie.

She would take it.

The tendril drew back, and she pulled her hood up, gazing at it. She could just make out the others looking at the entity as well – her mask didn’t have great peripheral vision. The claws clicked together a last time and disappeared, and they were left alone with the meat hook and the newly falling snow.

 

**_vi. In between trials_ **

There were so many words to be said, and yet none. Every trial was hard, but they got easier, and sometimes, they went days without one.

The Entity took them one at a time, and every trial was different. Every survivor they met was a little different. A little changed, from the last time they met.

It wasn’t those that mattered to Susie. She was unstoppable in trials, the bloodlust of the Entity charging her, sending her hunting. Every time she did a little better, and she found a little gift back at the lodge to help her with her next trial.

Yes, those were nice, but they didn’t matter to Susie. What mattered was the time she got to spend with Julie, sometimes for ages, just sitting by the fire, falling asleep on each other’s laps and shoulders. Sometimes they talked about everything and nothing: about their past lives, about the trials they were in, about the survivors who thought they were so smart.

The Entity had described them accurately: flies. Pests.

Sometimes the Entity dropped other killers into their tiny home, and they had interesting discussions about how to deal with this and that person. It was never boring, and the newfound stream of words just made it better. Liberating.

Funny, how she didn’t mind being branded a killer now. Even though she never really killed, except when the survivors pissed her off spectacularly, and she felt the Entity’s dark hand granting her the strength to take them out herself.

It wasn’t really killing if someone else was guiding her hand, was it?

But for all her confidence in trials, Susie still wasn’t as brave outside of them. Sometimes she found the courage to hold Julie’s hand for no other reason than she’d wanted to. Sometimes Julie would squeeze her hand back; sometimes she’d just smile and shake her head.

But on a very rare sort of _sometimes_ , she’d kiss Julie on the cheek, and Julie would turn around to cup her face and press their lips together, tongue darting out to taste her. Not really like how they used to ‘practice’, because Julie had so much more experience now. It was like discovering her for the first time. For the second time. Learning all the hidden crevices that Julie hid parts of herself in, teasing out half-truths and little confessions, and tasting the perfume of her. It was intoxicating.

Frank didn’t seem to mind that much, the first time he saw them tangled up together when he had come back from a trial. He just said that it was his turn, and pulled Julie away.

~~He did return her later, to Susie’s puzzlement and delight.~~

Frank learnt to share, after that.

Time flowed weirdly in the Entity’s realm, but it was a long time later that _sometimes_ became _oftentimes_ , when Julie began to care less about appearances. She began to say she didn’t mind when Susie bounced up to her for a hug, or called her pet names in front of the boys.

She minded less and less when Susie told her she loved her. When Susie told her that she was _in love_ with her.

~~Sometimes, she reminded Susie that yes, she did love her too.~~

It was then, on the rarest form of sometimes, that Julie would seek her out to kiss her first, announcing that she was sick of Frank and he could kiss Joey instead.

~~Susie was sure Joey wouldn’t mind that at all.~~

~~She did catch them kissing once, and it made her face hot to see how passionate they were about it. It took a lot of coaxing to get her out of the red locker she’d hid in.~~

~~She never let Joey live it down, of course.~~

It was an odd sort of life, an odd sort of limbo. But it was infinitely more interesting than the Ormond they’d left behind, because now, she got to do thrilling bad things all by herself. She was _encouraged_ to do it, with no repercussions.

~~She also got to kiss Julie, cuddle with Joey and watch Frank cuss the roof down when Julie beat him at cards. She had all the time in the world, and her favourite people to spend it with. What more could she ask for?~~

Susie wasn’t sure she left anything important behind when they got taken – when they were called. She had everything she needed, right here. They didn’t even need to eat. It was great.

They were four parts of a whole: Frank, Julie, Susie and Joey. They were called together, and their abilities were the same. They were stronger together.

They were the Legion, and now they would live forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, yes, I know, that's not how the Legion mural came to be in canon. I messed it up but this is fanfiction so I'm keeping it.
> 
> Thanks for reading this monstrosity I guess? I swear I didn't mean for it to be 10.5k, it was supposed to be 5k max!


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